Along the edge of a forest deep in the Equestrian wilderness, far beyond the reaches of known civilization, a jaguar-like creature was making his early morning rounds. His name was Night Fury - and for better or for worse, this was his home. He took a few steps along a lone dirt path, taking in the early morning sun through the overhanging canopy when out of the blue, a pink blur dropped right on his jet-black head.
He yowled, looking around for what hit him, only to find a pink basket containing a pink envelope with the words “Royal Wedding” written on the front.
He blinked and sat down on the dirt path to help with the dizziness. That was the last thing he had expected to attack him from above.
The basket had some sort of makeshift parachute attached to it. Not big enough to keep the impact of it from hurting his nose, but enough to make sure the letter had stayed securely inside. He looked at the letter to see who the invitation was for, only to see that the invitation was to him specifically.
He took a second to process what had happened as he sat there in confusion. Had someone sent him an invitation? His confusion turned to curiosity, and he quickly used one claw to open the letter and read it.
Esteemed Night Fury,
Greetings from myself and the nation of Equestria! It has come to my personal attention that diplomatic relations between ourselves and your kin, the Speed Shifters, have been lacking of late. As such I have appointed you, the most familiar of your kind to us, as temporary ambassador for your species. Included is an invitation to the REAL wedding of Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, and a ticket to canterlot via the Friendship express. I do hope you’ll be able to attend!
Cordially,
Princess Celestia.
Night Fury read the official-looking letter in his paws with a raised eyebrow and feline ears askew. At first he thought he’d received the letter by mistake, but his name was written plain as day on the front of the envelope. A letter that apparently named him ambassador for his species. He took another look and found that Princess Celestia had specified that this invitation was to the real wedding. He was uncertain as to why she would need to specify that, but he didn't question it. The invitation and ticket were indeed included in the envelope, both looking just as real, but there were a couple of problems.
First, he had never so much as looked at a politician before.
Second, He didn’t really know any others of his species. Besides his parents, of course.
He’d be a fool to ignore the letter, he knew. It seemed to present the opportunity of a lifetime, even if it had been unceremoniously dropped on his head from a pegasus chariot. A free trip to Canterlot, and a chance to talk with the very highest in the Equestrian government, perhaps even countries beyond.
And so he took his chances and followed the long dirt path through the forest, soon coming to the very edge where the tree line broke away to a train station with the Crystal Zephyr waiting for him. Soon enough he found himself sitting in his own private train car, a hole punched into his ticket, wondering what in the world this ‘Princess Celestia’ could be thinking as he made his way to Canterlot.
The station came into view, and with it many ponies. Night Fury’s eyes were quickly drawn to two in particular, taller than the rest. An ivory white pony with a flowing multicolor mane, and next to her…The most beautiful creature he had ever seen. She held herself with dignity and grace, a tall pony with a navy blue coat and a shimmering, starry mane. Large wings were folded by her sides, and a magnificent unicorn horn sat atop her head. Night Fury stepped off the train in a daze, unable to take his eyes off the divine figure before him until the white one spoke.
“Ambassador Fury, thank you for coming. I am Princess Celestia, and this is my dear sister, Luna.”
After taking in the gorgeous one’s nod of agreement, Night Fury gave a confused stare to the white one, who he now noticed also had wings and a horn.
“I… have a few questions,” Night Fury said. Princess Celestia, as she had defined herself, smiled and winked.
“I thought you might. Shall we walk?”
The streets of Canterlot were filled with ponies, but most of them seemed to give Luna and Celestia a wide berth, allowing the three of them some measure of privacy. Luna, the beautiful one, seemed uninterested in talking at the moment, walking a few yards ahead. Instead, Celestia spoke while Night Fury tried to steal looks in Luna’s direction.
“The duties of a princess are… demanding, to say the least. Every tiny use of our time must be justified. I could not spare the time coming to the train station for just anyone, but greeting a foreign ambassador… that’s practically a requirement of being a princess.”
“Hang on… you made me an ambassador so you and your sister could come meet me at the train station?”
Celestia smiled. “Partially… I also thought it would be good to make a new friend, especially with someone as unique as you seem to be.”
“‘Unique?’ I assume you don’t know many Speed Shifters, then?”
“You are the only one that has reached my ears, and the first to meet my sister and I."
Night Fury raised an eyebrow.
“Then what was all that in the letter about me being ‘The most familiar’?”
“Well, being the only one I’ve heard of, that makes you the most familiar by default.”
Celestia leaned down conspiratorially and whispered. “It also appears that you’d like to become more familiar with a particular sister of mine.”
“A -wha… was I that obvious?”
Celestia nodded slowly.
“Your secret is safe with me,” she said with a wink before raising her head again.
From the moment they had left the train station, Canterlot Castle had been in view, towering over the rest of the city.Night Fury's eyes widened as he took in the beautiful sight, wondering how big this new landmark would be on the inside. The drawbridge lowered at the command of the princesses' magic, revealing the long stone walkway towards the main hall of the castle, stained glass windows of the princesses lined the halls in all of their glory.
Soon after being escorted down a second hall to a set of double doors and stealing more looks towards the lunar princess that he was increasingly gaining interest in, the double doors opened to reveal a rather slim mare with a pink coat and a multi-colored mane, colors ranging from pink to yellow to purple. Princess Celestia took no time in getting the two acquainted as she raised a hoof and began to speak.
“Night Fury, I’d like you to meet Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. She can help you get comfortable.”
Celestia said, gesturing to the pink alicorn. The name was a bit baffling to him but it didn’t stop him from trying it out on his tongue.
“Hi there, my name is Night Fury. it’s an honor to meet you Princess Miya Moore Cadenzi… sorry if I completely butchered your name heh,” He said with a chuckle. The two sisters ducked their heads with their sides aching trying not to laugh while Cadence discreetly put a hoof over her mouth.
“Heh, I’ll put the name butchering aside until later. You can call me Cadence.”
“Ok, Thanks” Night Fury said sheepishly as they left Luna and Celestia behind.
“I’ve heard from a few guards that you’re pretty fast...”
“I guess you could say that. Between you and me, I’ve stolen my fair share of pies from window sills. Why do you ask?”
“Well, I need somepony to grab deliveries from several stores in Canterlot, and considering that there hasn’t been anypony willing to take the job yet, I was wondering if you would take the job?”
“Of course, I’ll do anything for the bride. Especially when she’s as sweet as you are" Night fury added a wink.
Cadence blushed.
“Oh you, you’re such a charmer. But as you can probably tell, somepony already put a ring on it.”
Cadence checked the clock.
“Oh dear, it’s nearly 4:30! The wedding cake will be ready for pickup in 5 minutes… do you think you could go get it?”
“Sure, It’ll be on its way in no-time!”
Fury started to glow red, electric bolts pulsing from him as his powers started to make a whining noise, powering up. Cadence took a step back as she had never seen magic of this kind before, feeling nervous as to what Night Fury was about to do.
"You wanna see how fast I am, well here… you… GO!!"
He dashed off with a powerful blast and headed for the ballroom doors. The two sisters were outside of the doors for only what felt like a few seconds before a powered up Night Fury burst through the doors. Night Fury came out running, leaving a red trail of light as they gave pursuit, though they didn't take into consideration how fast he could move as they struggled to fly with him. Cadence was left stunned after hearing a sonic boom in close quarters, her ears ringing from the sudden loud noise.
“Night Fury, where are you going?”
Celestia called, struggling to keep up with the speeding feline. When Night Fury heard this, There was an audible sound of tires screeching as he stopped on a dime. The two princesses flew past him, their hooves just barely missing his head as they turned around and landed in front of him.
“To go get the wedding cake. It’ll be ready for pickup in 5 minutes!”
The princesses looked at each other. Silently, they agreed this had to be handled with extreme speed.
“Of course. Luna, can you make sure he knows where he’s going?”
“Yes my sister. Night Fury, follow me!”
Luna called with a commanding tone
Night fury almost tripped when he realized who would be escorting him personally to the bakery. Had Celestia done that on purpose?
“Err, right behind you, your highness,” Night Fury called, taking off after her.
“Night Fury!” Celestia called once again. He stopped in his tracks
“Yes?”
“Try not to trip over yourself too much.” She said with a wink. Fury’s face turned redder than the carpet below him. He took off without a word.